Last March, Joan Grona fractured her shoulder while installing a new exhibition at her art gallery, but she strapped on a sling and greeted her public — artists, patrons and partyers — that evening at the contemporary art space that has been an anchor of the Blue Star arts complex for 20 years.

Through countless art happenings, Grona has been a constant, with more than 200 exhibitions by established and up-and-coming artists.

On Thursday, she announced she would close the doors of Joan Grona Gallery at the end of the month, transitioning into an art consulting business, working with clients face-to-face and on the Internet.

“I can go to lunch with people now!” she said. “Seriously, this is not a sad occasion. I embrace change, and I find it very exciting. When I told my daughter, she bought me this iPad, so I have a gallery right here.

“But I can also take clients to artists' studios. For new collectors, that is a great way to expose them to the art world. It can be intimidating.”

“She will be missed,” he said. “She's been an asset to the art community and to the Blue Star for many years.”

The Blue Star complex, founded in 1986, is in transition, primarily because of slow traffic, Lifshutz said.

“If you go over there right now,” he said about 10 a.m. Thursday, “you'll find a ghost town.”

In January, Lifshutz announced a plan to “reconfigure” buildings in the alleyway off South Alamo Street to make them more attractive to retail businesses, displacing small artist-run galleries such as Cactus Bra Space.

Lifshutz, who says he is in “the design and permit phase,” envisions a streetscape with a small market, a bakery and a coffee house.

“I would like to find another gallery for Joan's space,” he said. “Art will remain the primary component of the area.”

But Hank Lee, owner of San Angel Folk Art next door to the Grona gallery, was a bit disheartened.

“She really had a niche,” he said. “It's very sad. We seem to be losing the art in the Blue Star arts complex.”

“I could always totally rely on Joan,” said San Antonio artist Suzanne Paquette, whom Grona has represented for nearly two decades. “She has always been very faithful, especially to San Antonio artists, and though it was a commercial gallery, she was always open to the art. I could say, ‘I think I want to do this installation,' and she would say, ‘Sure, sure.' That is gold to artists.”